Monday, January 1, 2007

The First Hours

I had not seen the 2am hour in I couldn’t remember how long.But there’s something about a living room full of friends, a coffee table covered with food, and weeks or months of absence from one another that make 2am a reasonable time to fall, exhausted and full-bellied, into bed.The house is packed with sleeping people, overnight bags, and foil-covered plates of baked goods.Every couch and bed is occupied and it is strangely satisfying to me, whose house usually consists of empty, unheated spaces.I like it in its inhabited way.My ear is tuned to any sounds of movement, but the house is still at the moment.

JG and I woke up after only six hours of sleep (we’re kind of lame in our eight-hour habit), but we’re hoping it’ll tire us out to slot us into the right waking up hour for the abrupt re-entry into the working world tomorrow.I haven’t awakened to the jarring poke of an alarm clock since the Friday before Christmas and I dread its insistence.Let’s not think about that.For now, I will savor the peace of my last day off and share with you what I resolve for this year.

1. To read four books every monthBasically, I want to read more, and I work best with a timeline, so there we are.If this goal ends up being a homework assignment, I’ll probably decrease the quantity because the ultimate objective here is to make time for leisure reading rather than hit a certain number of books.

2. To try two new recipes every monthSo, there’s that timeline thing again.My mom gave me a subscription to Cooking Light for Christmas and JG received the cookbook from America’s Test Kitchen for his birthday, so I will have a wellspring of recipes from which to glean.My idea is to try a recipe from baking and cooking because I prefer to bake but I aspire to improve my cooking skills.Hopefully, this balance will cater to my inclination and help me grow.

Guests are starting to stir and I hear the clank of mugs and glasses upstairs.It’s time to get a move on.I drag my pointer across the date in the taskbar just to see the pop-up – there it is.Monday, January 1, 2007.